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Bond Street antique furniture and art dealer Mallett is suffering through the recession but believes it is surviving in better shape than some of its competitors.
Losses mounted from £297,000 to £820,000 in the six months to end-June on sales 17% down at £6.78 million.
Chairman Lord Daresbury said that the decline “is a direct result of the global economic recession which took effect from September 2008”.
But he added: “When compared to trading in the second half of last year, when the economic environment was similar, these results show a 72% increase in turnover and a 64% reduction in operating losses.”
Mallett, which is currently selling some fine Georgian furniture, also said it has put off plans to move out of Bond Street into cheaper premises in Mayfair because it could not get a decent offer on the value of its lease in the current climate.
Daresbury was cautiously optimistic about the second half, saying: “We are encouraged by the improvement in the trading environment since the start of the year and the loss of a number of dealers from our sector recently should boost our market share.”
Previously listed rival Partridge Fine Arts went into administration last month.
Mallett had a major management shake-up at the end of last year, cut staff by a fifth and slashed the valuation of some of its fine art stocks.
It has now concentrated on cash, reducing its debt from £2.3 million to £800,000.
